Chapter 5 #2
It wasn’t the sort of chilly sunroom with moisture trapped between the double-glazing and a few withered plants in the corners.
It was a miniature paradise that would have made Monty Don proud.
Heat came from somewhere, and the dozens, maybe hundreds, of plants placed aesthetically throughout the greenhouse seemed to love it.
As it was the end of winter, most of the plants were green and not flowering.
The space contained everything from small palms and shiny, tropical greenery to more delicate ferns and ivies.
There was even a water feature off to one side that made a soothing, trickling sound.
In the middle of the space was a wicker couch and two chairs, all with plush cushions, and a low table.
“This is my favorite part of the house,” Desmond said, coming up to stand beside Javier, looking around at his sanctuary with a smile. “Matthew hated it of course and said it was a waste of time. He used to—”
“Honey, don’t you know it’s bad manners to talk about your ex in front of your new boyfriend?” Javier stopped him. He didn’t do it so much out of jealousy, but more because he was tired of someone as kind and generous as Desmond being held prisoner by a toxic ex.
If it was the last thing Javier did, he would get Desmond to shake Matthew’s dust from his feet and move on. Even if the man didn’t move on with him.
Although he wouldn’t say no to Desmond moving on with him.
“Sorry,” Desmond said with a sheepish smile. “Old habits and all that.”
“You’re not with him anymore,” Javier said, turning to face Desmond and to meet his eyes with a look that demanded Desmond listen to him.
“You don’t owe Matthew anything. I know you feel responsible for him somehow—” Desmond’s face pinched for a second, “—but that’s all in the past now.
The man made you sick on purpose last night.
Someone like that doesn’t deserve the time of day from you. ”
“I suppose you’re right,” Desmond said like he wanted to believe it but wasn’t sure he could.
There was more to the story of Matthew, Javier was certain. Desmond had already told him a surprising amount about their history, but instinct told Javier there was more.
More that he would save for another day, because in that moment, he wanted to make Desmond forget about the past and focus on good things.
“What made you want to build this little paradise onto the back of your already lush house?” he asked with the purposeful intent of getting Desmond to talk about the things that lit him up.
“I’ve always loved gardens,” Desmond said, clearly understanding what Javier was after and happily going along with it.
“This is probably terribly cliché of me as a gay man, but my mum was an avid gardener as well, and I used to love spending time with her when I was a boy, digging around in the dirt and going to flower shows with her.”
Javier laughed. “For a man that could easily pass as straight, what with his high-powered finance job and his corner office, you really do tick a lot of the typical gay boxes.”
“Cooking, Gardening, Decorating, Mum’s favorite, crippling self-esteem issues that cause me to make dubious choices,” Desmond said as if he were reading out a grocery list.
Javier laughed harder, his heart swelling. “That about covers it,” he said. “And then you’ve got me. Loves fashion and wearing make-up, campy as fuck, even when the situation doesn’t call for it, and constantly searching for approval from my father that I’m never going to get.”
“We make the perfect pair, don’t we,” Desmond said with a smirk.
Their eyes met, and suddenly the joke wasn’t as much of a joke as it could have been.
The prickly, exciting feeling that Javier had stumbled onto something amazing raced through him, seeming to grow bigger with every heartbeat.
He even found himself fighting the urge to pull Desmond into his arms so he could kiss the breath right out of him.
“I can show you how to fertilize the plants and check for dead leaves, if you’d like,” Desmond said in a rough, quiet voice, breaking the spell that had encompassed him.
“I’d love that,” Javier said. He knew when to fling himself headlong into his feelings and when to hold back. “Every good boyfriend should know how to keep the plants fresh and happy.”
Desmond laughed and stepped away, grabbing a pair of pruning shears from a small cabinet under the window into the kitchen.
The intensity of the moment ebbed, and Javier slipped easily into domestication once again.
He’d never considered taking care of plants particularly interesting, but Desmond dove into the job with endearing enthusiasm.
Somehow, they spent the rest of the morning working with the plants, watering, trimming, and feeding Desmond’s paradise.
And Javier didn’t mind. It was like he’d stepped into some alternative world where just he and Desmond existed.
There was so much to see and do in that little world, too.
Not just the plants, but the rest of the house.
After lunch, Javier was perfectly content to help Desmond do laundry and dust the seldom-used dining room.
They decided to make bread from scratch to eat with their Italian supper that night, so a huge chunk of the afternoon was spent in the kitchen.
They could have gone out for a walk, since the sun came out in the afternoon, bathing London in cheer and light, but that would have burst the bubble.
And Javier loved the bubble. It was restful and cozy.
It was worlds apart from his failing business, and he was fairly certain that for Desmond, it was an escape from his stressful job and Matthew’s hounding.
By the time supper rolled around, which they decided to eat in the greenhouse with candles lit all around, giving the space a romantic glow, Javier realized that neither he nor Desmond had checked their phones all day.
They’d been fully engaged with each other, and even though there was definitely a heap of attraction there between the two of them, Javier had been fine with just letting it simmer.
“If today has taught us nothing, it’s taught us one thing,” he said as they finished up their supper and drank the last of their expensive wine.
“And what is that?” Desmond asked as he held his wine glass and stared at Javier with soft eyes.
Javier grinned. “It’s that if you ever lose your posh finance job, you could easily get a job as a chef.”
Desmond laughed, lowering his face slightly.
The way he looked so sweet and vulnerable had Javier heating up.
“And if you ever get the sack at your modeling agency, you would make a brilliant one of those home organizer people who rearranges cabinets.” He laughed and blushed even harder, then said, “Oh dear. I can’t even put together a proper sentence this evening. ”
“And why is that?” Javier asked, taking a chance and sliding his hand across the table to where one of Desmond’s rested.
Desmond glanced up at him with pure hunger in his eyes. “I haven’t the faintest idea,” he said, shifting his hand to take Javier’s.
They sat there for a moment, making eyes at each other.
Javier knew what he wanted, and he was absolutely certain Desmond wanted the same thing.
He still didn’t want to rush into things, though.
The moment they were in, the flirtation and anticipation, was a huge turn-on.
If he was honest, he’d known where their day would end, but he’d also enjoyed every second of the slow dance to get them there.
“Shall we go upstairs?” Desmond asked with devastatingly beautiful vulnerability.
“I thought you’d never ask,” Javier replied with the same level of muted desire.
They stood so fast they nearly knocked the table over.
Their dinner things were abandoned as they left the greenhouse and headed upstairs, careful to turn out all the lights.
The urgency to be together was definitely there, but so was a deeper feeling that their shared world was about to reach its climax.
“I’ve been thinking about this all day,” Desmond confessed once they were in the bedroom, tugging their shirts off and stepping out of their trousers.
“Me, too,” Javier said, not caring where his clothes fell on the floor. Clothes and supper could be cleaned up later. Right now, he and Desmond needed each other more than the house needed to be tidy.
They tumbled into Desmond’s bed together once they were naked, hands and mouths searching and enjoying each other.
There was nothing organized or planned about the way they kissed, tongues playing and searching, or the way they pressed their bodies together.
They were both fully hard right from the start, but Javier didn’t feel the need to do anything with that other than rub and thrust against Desmond’s erection.
They probably should have had a conversation about needs and preferences.
They would have done well to wash and prep and make sure everything they needed was on hand.
They’d do that some other time, though. That first time wasn’t about who penetrated who or getting off as spectacularly as possible.
It was about touch and closeness, heat and vulnerability.
Javier did end up on top with Desmond spread and open beneath him, but that was more by chance than design.
They kissed, mouths so hungry for each other, reveling in the connection between them more than anything else.
Javier felt his orgasm building slowly, and if the change in Desmond’s breathing and the tension in his body was anything to go by, Desmond was getting there, too.
Javier reached between them, caressing Desmond’s rigid cock while plunging his tongue into his mouth.
Desmond made a beautiful sound of surrender and grasped Javier’s cock, moving it close to his.
Their hands tangled as they stroked and kissed and moved with each other, and with a roll like thunder, Javier started to come.
It felt so good to find that release while kissing Desmond.
He moved his hand faster to keep the sensations going, and in doing so, he felt Desmond catch his breath before warm wetness spilled over his hand.
The two of them kept moving for a moment to draw everything out as long as possible.
It was brilliant, but even more wonderful was the way the two of them fell together, panting and wrapping themselves around each other as everything steadied out into a perfect glow.
“You aren’t disappointed?” Desmond asked a few minutes later, as Javier pulled the covers up over both of them. Like with everything else, they would clean up later.
“Disappointed?” Javier asked, brushing his clean hand over the side of Desmond’s face.
Desmond lowered his eyes. “That you didn’t get to fuck me.”
Affection and heartache and anger, because Matthew had to be behind the shame flickering in Desmond’s eyes with those words, rushed through Javier. “Baby, you could never disappoint me,” he whispered, then kissed Desmond again for good measure.
That kiss led to another, then another, but instead of dragging that into another round of groping and thrusting, if either of them were even capable of it at that point, they settled into cuddling. It felt amazing. It felt like they were really together, not just pretending.
If that’s where things went next. Javier didn’t mind at all.